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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28472751">Downtime</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyjax/pseuds/ladyjax'>ladyjax</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Leverage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Character of Color, Crimes &amp; Criminals, Holidays, Multi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:21:28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,139</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28472751</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ladyjax/pseuds/ladyjax</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The period between Christmas and New Year's is a time of rest for some.  Everyone needs a little downtime, right?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alec Hardison/Parker/Eliot Spencer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>2020 Leverage Secret Santa Exchange</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Downtime</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardPotatoChild/gifts">AwkwardPotatoChild</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Your prompt:<br/>"Another idea could be something about that weird space between Christmas and New Years. I have a good number of friends born during that time of year and they affectionately call it the void since no one is really sure what you're supposed to be doing or celebrating during that time.  So what's the crew up during that weird liminal space?"</p><p>Here's my take on it.  I hope you enjoy it.</p><p>(NOTE: Only flagging for violence because someone gets tazed)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The tiny Christmas tree sparkled merrily, the lights bouncing off the copper top of the bar where it had been positioned.  “That’s not a tree,” Alec had observed when Parker had brought it home from the drug store.  “It’s more like a shrub.”  Parker placed it at the end of the bar before unwrapping the overly long scarf she’d taken to wearing that year.</p><p>“Neither of you could decide on a tree,” she replied with a casual shrug.  “This way, we don’t have much clean up.”</p><p>Eliot traded understanding looks with Alec and both of them gave in.</p><p>With the holiday build up and subsequent merry making on Christmas, it was good to slow down in the week before New Year’s Day.  And even though it countered every business truism about the holidays and how much money could be made, Eliot decided to close the kitchen to regular dining for the week. Instead, he worked out a plan to sell easy to reheat to-go items and Amy and Alec figured out the marketing.  Kitchen staff that wanted to work a shortened schedule in the morning came in for prep and cooking, while front of the house staff took turns with expediting orders.  Everyone was happy and the trio had time off for themselves.</p><p>Time off being relative.</p><p>Alec was lost in thought, drumming his fingers on the table top where he’d been working for the past hour.  He only looked up when a small flight glass was slid in front of him.  “What’s this?”  Alec gestured towards the glass.  The liquid within was ruby colored and slightly cloudy.</p><p>Parker dropped into the seat on the other side of the table with a grin.  “Taste it.”</p><p>He picked up, swirled it around, then took a sip.  “Tart, not unpleasantly so.  A touch sweet, and,” he took another quick sip and swished it in his mouth before swallowing. “Ginger?  I’m tasting some ginger.”</p><p>“Yes!”  Parker pumped the air.  “Absolutely correct!”</p><p>“And we are excited about this why?”</p><p>“Because,” Eliot said as he walked up wiping his hands on a towel before shoving it in his back pocket. “That is probably going to win us something at the beer fest next year.”</p><p>“Thief Juice!”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>Suddenly, Parker lunged across the table and grabbed Alec’s cheeks and smooshed them, something that normally delighted him but her grip this time was something close to what she might use if she was dangling off a building. The wild light in her eyes sort of worried him. His “baby” came out like “bubbeh.”</p><p>“Darlin’ you might want to let Alec go.”</p><p>Parker’s head whipped around to look at Eliot then back at Alec who gave her a thumbs up.<br/>
“Oh, sorry!”  She released her hold and flopped back in her chair while Alec worked his jaw just to make sure everything was still in place.</p><p>“You okay there?”  Eliot could barely keep the smirk out of his voice.  His partner favored him with a disgruntled but loving glare.  </p><p>“I am fine.” Alec said primly. “What’s this about Thief Juice?”</p><p>“That is Thief Juice.  Thief Juice 4.0!”  Parker rubbed her hands together.  “You both swore that the ginger wouldn’t go with the berries but it totally does.”</p><p>“We just tapped the cask,” Eliot said. “I think we’ve got a hit.”</p><p>“Pairing or are you still working on that?”</p><p>Eliot pulled out a chair and flipped it around so that he could rest his arms on the back.  “It’s gonna take me a bit but I have some ideas that I want to try out. I’m thinking we host another brewers’ dinner in February and invite some of the breweries we haven’t worked with yet.”</p><p>Ideas were already spilling in Alec’s head about marketing and invitations.  He grabbed his tablet and made some quick notes, barely stopping himself from firing them off to Amy, who was taking a well-deserved break.  </p><p>After two years, the brewpub had finally settled into its own unique stride.  Locals who’d been initially hesitant once the trio had taken over slowly came around and were now ardent supporters of the brews they produced.  This being only their second sour beer, they were counting on word of mouth and a limited supply produced to kick things up a notch.</p><p>Parker looked down at the papers that were still on the table.  “What were you working on?”</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>She poked at the papers so they bunched under Alec’s hand and cocked her head to the side inquiringly.   He looked down.  “Oh, yeah, I was finalizing the scavenger hunt for the employee holiday party.* Take a look.”</p><p>Eliot and Parker took up the pages while Alec finished his notes about the brewers’ dinner.  “I was going to walk part of the route to see if the timing works out.” He put his tablet down and said, “I wouldn’t mind some company.”</p><p>Habit and experience meant that they turned all of the security measures on even though they weren’t going to be gone that long.   They kept a low profile in town, even as they still took jobs themselves and coordinated jobs with other crews as part of Leverage International.  Having Amy as their manager meant that they could grow their business and not miss critical appointments or things like the holiday party.</p><p>It was Eliot who explained to Parker and Alec that many restaurants and pubs hosted their holiday party after the holidays.  “Folks are usually working and they wouldn’t get to enjoy it.”  Eventually, things evolved to the point that they themselves didn’t take jobs during the holiday season.  </p><p>“Downtime is a thing," Eliot opined.  "Just go with it."</p><p>“But museums are basically closed and I could go to all of them.”  Parker had said at the time.  She deployed what she thought were puppy dog eyes but both Alec and Eliot held firm.  When Parker pouted, Alec offered,</p><p>“Hit ‘em up on President’s Day or something. They won’t see it coming.”</p><p>He and Eliot made sure to stick close to home on President’s Day weekend just in case.</p><p>They walked most of their block slowly.  Alec was partially listening to his partners while thinking about the scavenger hunt details.</p><p>“Definitely Strauss's Deli,” Eliot said.</p><p>“Yeah, already asked them.  They said okay,” Alec said absently.  “Remind me to swing by in the morning and pick up some bagels and whitefish.”</p><p>He kept walking, tapping a few notes on his phone when he realized that Eliot and Parker weren’t with him.  He turned around to see them standing and staring at him.  “What?”</p><p>Eliot walked up to him.  “Since when do you like bagels and whitefish? “</p><p>“Since Strauss's opened up,” Alec replied.  </p><p>“You never eat the bagels that we get from Bagel Mania.”</p><p>“That’s because Bagel Mania’s bagels are not good.  I don’t know how you can eat them.”</p><p>Parker slipped in with, “I like them.”</p><p>Alec sighed.  “You occasionally love coffee from that corner store.”  He looked between them before turned to keep walking.  “Strauss’s bagels are like the ones I used to get when I was living with Nana.  Mr Schepp and his wife, Marjorie, ran a small deli in our neighborhood.  They’d been there forever.  Even the bangers left their place alone.”  </p><p>They came to the end of the block and crossed the street to walk up the other side.  “By the time we met the first time in Chicago, I’d already worked out a deal so I could have them FedEx me bagels.”</p><p>Eliot gave an amused snort.  “I never pegged you for a bagel snob.”</p><p>“I have depths, man.  Depths.”</p><p>The trio were slowly making their way up the block when Parker stopped.  Eliot was about to ask what was wrong but she held up a hand with a curt “shh.”</p><p>That put Alec and Eliot on alert.  Without comms, they’d have to be as careful as possible.  Parker took off first, swarming up the side of the building housing My Sister’s Place Apothecary and flipping herself on to the roof.  Eliot and Alec followed, ghosting into the tight alleyway between buildings.  As they approached the rear, voices raised in anger and some confusion caught their attention.</p><p>
  <i>“What do you mean this is the wrong building?”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“It’s the wrong building, asshole.  It should have been 6536 North Townsend, not 6536 Townsend.  For fuck’s sake, I knew I should have brought Rafael on this.”</i>
</p><p>Both men crept forward until they could see around the corner of the apothecary.  Two men were arguing and the back door of Delphi Ice Cream shop was wide open.  “6536 North Townsend,” Alec whispered.  “That’s the midtown branch of Bank of the Pacific.”</p><p>He placed a hand on Eliot’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze, feeling some of the tension there subside but not by much.  “It’s the holiday,” Eliot growled.  “Who wants to rob a bank during the holidays”</p><p>“These two,” Alec replied tightly.  “What are you thinking?”</p><p>“I’m thinking someone is about to get tazed.”</p><p>Which is exactly what happened when Parker dropped to the ground lightly behind the robber who had made the mistake.  She brought him down with some well placed volts.  His partner hand only enough time to say, “Joey?”  before Alec and Eliot popped out from their hiding place.</p><p>“Damn it.”  He looked around then put his hands on top of his head.</p><p>Eliot stepped up, frisked him, then turned him loose.  </p><p>“Are you guys cops or something?”</p><p>“You could call us concerned citizens,” Alec replied. “What’s your name.”  </p><p>Parker held up her taser and clicked it on, the current making that distinctive crackling noise.  “Terry.  Terry Fisher.”  He pointed towards the prostrate man on the ground.  “That’s Joey.”</p><p>“Yeah, yeah, we got that part,” Eliot replied tiredly.  “Who do you work for?”</p><p>Terry hesitated but gave a small jump when Parker turned her taser towards him.  “You might want to answer and spare yourself the hassle,” Alec observed dryly.</p><p>“Man, he is going to kill us,” Terry muttered and then he sighed.  “We run with Mitch Baker’s crew.”</p><p>Parker stashed her taser.  “Baker, Baker.  Do we know him?”  </p><p>“He comes in the pub sometimes,” Eliot said.  “We’ve chatted.”  Alec chuckled.</p><p>“You told him to stay in his part of town.”</p><p>“It was implied.”</p><p>Terry looked at the trio and asked, “So, um, what are you gonna do?”</p><p>“Do” turned out to be mean packing Joey up and taking a ride across town for a visit.  When they reached the hole in the wall bar tucked away in the recesses of an older office building, they herded Terry and a sore, but now walking Joey before them.</p><p>Mitch Baker was middle-aged, white, and somewhat non-nondescript.  You’d never pick him out of a line up easily.  That made him his own kind of dangerous, something that any one on their side of the line would respect.  He stood up from his seat at the bar when Joey and Terry walked in.  Watery blue eyes took in the three people who followed.</p><p>He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face in exasperation.  “You two can’t stay out of trouble, can you?”</p><p>“Found them lost on our side of town,” Alec said.  “Thought you might want them back.”</p><p>“That chick tazed me,” Joey whined.  Mitch cuffed him on the back of his head.</p><p>“Get him out of my sight.”</p><p>As Terry hustled Joey away, Mitch turned his attention back to Alec, Eliot, and Parker.  “Any damage?”</p><p>Eliot shook his head no.  “They broke into an ice cream shop instead of the bank.  We’ll take care of it.”</p><p>“Much obliged.  And I’m, uh, sorry for the disturbance.”</p><p>“You’re lucky it was our time off,” Parker said lightly.  “Otherwise this might have ended differently.”</p><p>Alec slipped up beside her and wrapped his arm around her.  “Honey, let’s not threaten the nice mobster.”</p><p>“But, we could…”</p><p>“Ah.”</p><p>“I mean…”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>She folded her arms with a huff.  “Fine.  No fun.”</p><p>Eliot nodded at Mitch.  “Just keep them with you or cut ‘em loose.  You might be able to salvage Terry but Joey?”</p><p>“A friend asked a favor. Gonna have to tell him no joy,”  Mitch replied.  </p><p>“Good enough.”</p><p>They hustled back into the dark street and looked around.  Alec whipped out his phone.  “I’ll call us a cab.”</p><p>Cold wind sliced by and they huddled together against the building for warmth while they waited.  “So,  think we should invite Baker to the brewers’ dinner?”</p><p>“No,” Parker snapped while Alec hazarded, “maybe?”</p><p>“He’s not that bad,” Eliot offered. “Think of it as customer relations.”  The cab pulled up before the other two could offer an opinion.  </p><p>Once they were safely inside, Alec said, “Tomorrow, you make pancakes and we’ll talk about it.”</p><p>Eliot smiled into the darkness and leaned in to kiss Alec’s cheek.  “Pancakes it is.”</p>
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